The Timeless Gamer

[Syt]

As some of you know I have started my games blog recently: http://www.thetimelessgamer.com/

My latest article is now online:

A Little Time With: Occult Chronicles – Of Aliens, Elder Gods and Tarot Cards

Questions, comments and requests are welcome, of course. Complaints, too.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

some interesting reads in there. Well written too. might be good for the occassional read (as I'm not a blog-reader).
So a thumbs up from me

[DontSayBanana]

Cool.  Quick question: so basically, the game you reviewed is one-house Arkham Horror with an extra mechanic or two thrown into the mix?

[Syt]

Thanks, guys.

Occult Chronicles shares obvious similarities with Arkham Horror. I would say, though, that AH is the better game. OC requires less strategy - basically its moving forward to find the next encounter, and strategy mostly revolves around whether you fight or flee and maybe whether or not you use a bonus card. And you'll be fighting those card duels. A lot.

[Bluebook]

Brilliant blog!

[Syt]

Thanks!


The latest Sunday Musings are online:

Press "X" to be Evil – The Illusion of Choice about player choices in games.

[DontSayBanana]

Good read, I imagine you'd get along with Warren Spector, who's blasted decision trees as a really poor way to handle player choice.

I'm more in favor of a "hidden slider" approach.  There's a tree, but instead of discrete switching points like "Press 'X' to be Evil," standard character actions have some affinity to a trait that gets tallied up as the game goes along.  I do disagree with Fable's method of saving it all til the very end- I think a better example is a slight modification to the bounty system from Skyrim.  The first time you pick a lock in front of a merchant, it causes you to lose any discounts with that particular merchant.  The second time, or the first time you steal from that merchant (provided it's something small and cheap), you no longer get vendor interactions from that merchant, more than that, they lose patience, the guards get called, and bounty gets added.  Different vendors should have a different tolerance, too- prissier ones go straight to the guards, Riften merchants might tag themselves as enemies instead of call the guards, etc.  The trick is, it's all based on the same stat that just has an arbitrary amount of bounty added right now, and NPCs are given maybe an extra line or two of code that manages how they react to that attribute in you.

[Syt]

Thanks.   I'm not against choices per se, it depends on how it's handled and benefits the game and whether the writers use smoke and mirrors enough to make the choices seem natural.

The "hidden slider" approach feels more organic, but in the end comes down to similar mechanics, only that many small actions determine the outcome instead of one big one. Also, there's the risk that if you stick to a path too much, you block other routes for good, unless you also implement the opportunity for redress. And still, it only goes so far as the developers define it. If there's no programmed response for a certain slider setting, then that's that.

[Syt]

New article is up:

The Passports of Others: A Little Time with Papers, Please.

[garbon]

Just played Republia. I like that ending.

[Syt]

Just played Republia. I like that ending.

It wasn't before I visited the dev's webpage that I realized that he's also behind that game.